The Art of Sin
by fremionesmutlover
Summary: When Pandora's box is released in Hogwarts, Hermione gives in to her lustier side, Snape experiences envy, and Ginny’s bat bogeys don’t get any nicer when she gets a dose of wrath! HGDM is in here, but there are also other pairings, read to find out! R&R!
1. I feel a sin coming on

**A/N: I do not own any of these characters, I just play with them :) They are the property of Miss Rowling, and forever will be. If you have seen this story before, I dropped it a while ago, and have decided to edit and finish it :) May the sinning begin! **

Ron woke up in the middle of the night, blinking away the last remnants of a dream. He rolled over, and tried to find a more comfortable position, but he couldn't get comfortable, no matter what position he tried. He sighed and looked around the room. Dean, Seamus, and Harry were all sound asleep, while Neville was snoring lightly. He decided to get a glass of water from the bathroom. Pushing his covers down, he shifted his legs out of bed. Upon contact with the stone floor he winced; it was cold. _I heard the girls dormitory floors are enchanted to be warm_ he thought. He yawned and walked toward the bathroom, wiping the crust from his eyes.

On his way, movement from out the window caught his eye. He detoured over to the sill, and watched with curiosity as 3 hooded people walked toward the castle. The middleman seemed to be burdened by a chest of some sort, which he was carrying awkwardly in front of him. Ron got the feeling the man didn't like the box, or was repulsed by it in some way, though he wasn't sure how he knew that. Perhaps it was just in the way he was carrying it.

Ron yawned again, and was reminded of the task at hand. He could tell Harry about the visitors in the morning. He shuffled the rest of the way to the bathroom, and realized he didn't have a cup. He sighed in defeat, and resorted to what he really didn't want to have to do. He closed the bathroom door, hoping this wouldn't be too loud, and whispered, "Dobby?"

A loud "CRACK" announced the small house elf's entrance, and Ron jumped, even though he knew it was going to happen.

"Master Weasley!" Dobby squealed excitedly, and Ron shushed him quickly.

"Dobby, are you trying to wake up all of Gryffindor?"

Dobby was still smiling stupidly. "No, Sir, Dobby is just very excited to see you! He thinks it has been much too long!"

Ron couldn't help but chuckle, "This is embarrassing… but could you get me a glass of milk? Preferably a bit warm? I can't sleep, and mum always does that for me at home." He blushed a light Weasley blush, and Dobby nodded enthusiastically.

"Dobby will return in a minute sir!" With another loud "CRACK" he was gone. Ron thought he heard movement outside the door and froze, but he didn't hear it again. He leaned against the wall, and moments later, Dobby was back. Again, Ron jumped, and smiled weakly at the glass of milk Dobby held out to him. "Thanks Dobby. Night." Dobby nodded with his usual energy, eben at this ungodly hour of the night, and disapparated with a final crack.

Ron sipped the milk, and practically moaned with pleasure. It was just like his mom always made it, with a touch of cinnamon. It took him a few minutes to drink, and when it was empty it disappeared. A muggle may have been surprised, but Ron was at the point that it could have walked itself back to the kitchens, and it wouldn't have fazed him. He wiped the milk off his lip and turned to leave. When he opened the door, an anxious Neville was waiting outside his door, doing a little dance, and holding himself. "Next time, just silence your four poster and do it in bed mate! I gotta go!" It took Ron a moment to figure out what Neville was insinuating, and he almost chuckled when he thought about it. He had been in there a while, and may have enjoyed that milk a little too much. He would have to correct Neville in the morning, because the milk was starting to do its job, and his eye lids were getting very droopy. He shuffled back to his bed and fell asleep practically upon contact with his pillow.

**A/N: Please please please review! I promise the other chapters will be longer, this was just a little taste to test the waters with! I have a loose idea of who will be getting each sin, but I'm flexible, so send you your best ideas and I may change my mind to make it funnier. Lust I'm set in though, so don't suggest anyone for that. Reviewers get cookies! (delivered by Thestral!)**


	2. Gone with the Sin

**A/N: Here is re-uploaded chapter 2 :) I would love reviews and comments on what you think so far. Chapter 3 should hopefully be up tonight, and four looks like it will be up this weekend.**

The next morning, Ron woke up feeling rested, but immediately jumped. Four faces were staring down at him. "Bloody hell mates! Give a man some space!" He rubbed his eyes and looked at his roommates. "Why are you all looking at me like someone died?" The other boys looked back and forth to each other before Harry finally spoke.

"Ron, we've been trying to wake you up for hours. It's nearly one thirty! You're lucky it's Saturday or you would've had to make up double potions with the Hufflepuffs!" Harry looked genuinely worried.

"So I overslept… big deal!" Ron was rather frustrated that they were making a big deal out of him being a light sleeper. "It's not as if I haven't slept in before."

Harry opened his mouth to say more, but Dean cut him off. "Ron, we thought someone had slipped you something. We tried everything! Neville was ready to go get Madame Pomfrey if you weren't up in a few more minutes."

"What exactly is everything?" Inquired Ron, not sure he really wanted to know.

"Well," said Seamus, "Me mum sometimes shakes me a bit if I won't wake, but we tried for 5 minutes and you kept snoring."

"Yea," added Neville, "and we put Harry's Sneak-a-scope by your ear and lied and threatened each other. It must have whistled for 8 minutes!"

"I was just really tired! Had a long night." Ron was starting to be genuinely worried that there had been more than just milk and cinnamon in the glass Dobby had given him last night. He looked over at Neville who was giving him a knowing smirk, and cried out, "Oi! Neville! You have no idea what you saw last night! Give it a rest!" The other boys looked between Ron and Neville curiously, and Harry broke the silence.

"What exactly did Neville see last night?" Harry waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Dean elbowed Ron in the ribs and laughed.

"Finally get some Ron?" Dean teased.

"Not exactly," laughed Neville, "He was pretty desperate. Took care of it in the john."

"Did not!" Roared Ron, his face creeping towards the famous Weasley red. "I couldn't sleep and Dobby brought me some milk alright?"

The boys collapsed laughing, and to make matters worse, Dobby appeared at the mention of his name. "Master Weasley! Did Dobby's special milk help you sleep last night sir?" The house elf's question caused Ron's face to reach another level of red, and the boys' laughter to get even louder. When they finally quieted down, Ron dismissed Dobby, and tried to explain to his roommates.

"It's not that big of a deal! My mum makes me warm milk all the time! I think Dobby slipped something in it though! That's why you couldn't get me up! Oh, and before I asked Dobby for help last night, I saw something outside! It was bizarre. It had to have been 3 in the morning, and there were these three guys, and they were wearing cloaks, and-"

Seamus cut him off, "Right Ron, quit changing the subject. We've already nearly missed lunch, we can talk about what you may or may not have seen later." He laughed, obviously not believing a word Ron was saying. Harry sent Ron a look that said, "We'll talk later."

Ron got up to get dressed, while the others went down the staircase to go to lunch. "See you later!" One of them called, "I heard we might be having _milk_ with lunch." This comment was followed by more laughing, and an 'oomph' presumably from Harry elbowing whomever said it. Ron smiled, it was nice to have friends that would stick up for you every once in a while.

By the time Ron was dressed and coming down the stairs from the boys' dormitory, the common room was empty. He sighed, knowing he didn't have much time, and picked up the pace. He couldn't help but think about the men in the cloaks, or what Dobby had done to his milk. He decided he would have to have a talk with the house elf later. He would liked to have smacked the annoying elf, but since he still had his eyes on Hermione, he decided to stick to a purely "SPEW approved" way of dealing with him.

He was about to round one of the last corners to the Great Hall, when he heard whispered voices from around the corner. It sounded like McGonagall and someone he didn't recognize or couldn't make out.

"I just don't think it's safe!" Whispered a stern McGonagall.

"Minerva, I assure you, it is under the utmost of protections! Only someone who already knows the box is there could even find it, and even then who would want to find such a boring old thing?" The voice was male, very authoritative sounding, like a ministry official.

"I hardly think it's boring… Imagine the implications if it were-" McGonagall was shushed by the other voice.

Ron knew better than to stick around after overhearing a conversation like that, and quickly retraced his steps backwards. Thanks to his older brothers, Fred and George, he knew about 7 other ways to get to the Great Hall, not all of them in the approved, Hogwarts a History, map.

By the time he got to the Gryffindor table, Harry was almost done with what looked like a corned beef sandwich on Rye. Hermione was telling him about what it was called in the muggle world. "In muggle restaurants, it's called a Reuben, and traditionally, there is Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing!" She looked proud of herself, and Harry merely smiled at her, mouth full of corned beef and bread, not wanting to ruin her pride by pointing out he had lived in the muggle world nearly his entire life.

They both looked up as Ron approached. Harry nodded in acknowledgement and Hermione looked at him disapprovingly, no doubt because he was arriving so late. "Harry," whispered Ron, "We have to talk. You know that thing I was telling you about earlier? The thing I saw last night? Well it's got McGonagall's knickers in a knot, and between us and Hermione, I think we could figure out what it is." Harry only nodded, a sign that they would talk later, when the rest of the table couldn't eavesdrop. He leaned over to Hermione and whispered something to her, and she brightened up noticeably, more than likely at the chance of library research.

An hour later, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were set up at the last desk before the restricted section, and were discussing what Ron had seen the previous night.

"There were three people," started Ron, "They seemed like guys from the way they were walking… But I could be wrong!" He added, after a sharp look from Hermione. "Anyway, the middle one was carrying a box, about the size of a quidditch ball box, and he didn't seem to like it very much. I think it made him uncomfortable. I heard McGonagall discussing the thing with one of the men before breakfast. I think I may have heard his voice before when I went to the ministry with dad. "

Hermione thought about this for a minute, "What did McGonagall have to say about it?"

Ron pondered his words for a moment, not wanting to tell Hermione that McGonagall thought it was dangerous, he knew she wouldn't like that. "She was just concerned about its safety I think." He was fairly proud of himself. He hadn't actually lied, she was worried about the safety of the box… just for different reasons than he had inferred.

"Well Ronald," Said Hermione matter-of-factly, "I think that based on what you have given us… this box could be one of hundreds of thousands of different things… Honestly… It's a box!"

Ron hesitated, "There was one more thing… The man said something about only someone who knew where it was being able to find it. I think I know where it might be."

Harry and Hermione looked from each other to Ron, before saying, "The Room of Requirement," at the same time.

"Exactly," said Ron. "Could we just go see?"

Harry looked like he was all for the idea, but Hermione wasn't convinced. "Why would the ministry need to hide something at Hogwarts? You remember what happened last time we went after something like this? We were all nearly killed! Harry had to fight the Dark Lord, and I lost house points for the first time in my life!"

Ron laughed, "It's not like that's the only time you've ever lost Gryffindor points Hermione."

"No, but maybe all those other times were because of that time!" She tried to keep a straight face, and succeeded for a few minutes, but soon she cracked, "Fine, I'm curious too!" She blushed.

"What's this?" teased Harry, "Hermione wants to break the rules again?" He and Ron laughed together this time, warranting a sharp 'shhh' from Madame Pince, the librarian.

"I did not say we were going to break any rules, we are merely going in search of an unknown in a room that may or may not be off limits… The room of requirement is never actually the same room, so we can't be banned from going in. It defies logic!"

Harry tried to suppress a smile, but ended up beaming at Hermione. "You're sure you don't want to work for the ministry someday? Your logic is impressive." Hermione couldn't tell to what degree he was being sarcastic, and merely giggle and shook her head in reply.

The trio decided to meet up at the room of requirement in an hour, to give them time to grab the invisibility cloak, and come up with an excuse for their absence from the unofficial study period that afternoon.

**A/N: Let me know what you think!**


	3. I'm BiSinning

**A/N: Unfortunately that took just a day longer than I was hoping, and I haven't had any time to work on the next one yet, but worst case scenario it will be up in 4 days. As always, read and review! Critiques are loved! Tell me what you like and tell me what you hate :)**

An hour later, Hermione and Harry met up on the seventh floor, just around the corner from the place where they knew the door to the room of requirement would appear. Hermione was talking in a hushed tone, worried about Ron being late. "It's been nearly and hour and ten minutes Harry, what if he's been caught!"

Harry looked at her in amusement, "Hermione, when is Ron ever on time, and its not as if walking down a corridor on the way to the seventh floor is breaking any rules. Unless someone just magically knows we're up to something, it's fine!"

Hermione's eyes shifted to the east, in the direction of Dumbledore's office. Thinking of his uncanny ability to know what was going on within Hogwarts' halls even when no one else did.

Just as she was about to start pacing, Ron rounded the corner, looking out of breath. "Blimey, Colin's a fast little bugger." When his companions only looked at him in confusion, he went on to explain, "Creevey, Colin Creevey, I ran into him just outside the common room, and he convinced himself that I was coming to see you Harry, and I had to double back through the third floor just to lose him."

"Well, in his defense, you were coming to see him," Hermione added matter-of-factly.

"Do people think I have no other friends?" Ron exclaimed, "honestly, I could've been headed anywhere! The library…" Hermione scoffed. "The common room, the great hall, anywhere!" He was getting red in the face again, so Hermione decided not to point out that he was usually able to be found somewhere around Harry, and only chuckled to herself.

"I'm sure it's just Colin," added Harry, "If you hadn't noticed, he's a bit obsessed."

They all shared a laugh and turned the corner to the room of requirement. The three walked down the corridor until they were exactly across the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls to dance Ballet, and stopped.

"What exactly should we make the room do?" asked Harry, more in Hermione's direction than Ron's. Hermione didn't respond, as she had started pacing and muttering different things under her breath. At one point a small door appeared, and Ron jumped towards it, opening it only to find a large room filled with rows of boxes. There were shoe boxes, boxes of oranges, and even a pile of boxing gloves, which Hermione reddened at the sight of, muttering something about loopholes and Murphy's law.

When they walked out of the room, Hermione huffed and started pacing again, and Ron just leaned up against the wall, with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "Blimey Hermione, how hard can it be? Can't you just ask for the room that has the box I saw last night?" The moment the words left his mouth, Ron jumped back as the wall he was leaning on turned into a door. Harry laughed, and Hermione walked over to the door, with a look on her face that Harry hadn't seen since their first flying lesson when they were first years and his broom had jumped into his hand immediately.

Hermione opened the door and gasped. The room was empty, save for a pedestal in the middle, and a box about the size of a microwave oven sitting on top of it. The box was beautiful in a very simplistic way. The box itself was a dull silver color with black accents all over. Hermione couldn't help but take a few steps closer, "It's… beautiful," she whispered. Ron and Harry exchanged looks of curiosity, obviously not as drawn in by the appearance of the thing as the mystery of what was within.

"Well I think we should open it." Said Ron. Hermione gave him a strange look. "What?" he asked, "What's the worst that could happen?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh at that one, "Really Ron? You're going to ask that question while we are standing in an enchanted room looking at an ominous box that McGonagall of all people is scared of?" Ron shrugged and Hermione shook her head.

"Obviously Ronald is not thinking clearly," she looked longingly at the box, "as much as I would love to know what's inside, I think there are ways other than opening the thing that are safer and wiser." She nodded at the end of her sentence to punctuate her point. Harry nodded in agreement, and Ron sighed and turned for the door.

"Guess that means we have to go to the library?"

"_Get_ to, Ron, we _get_ to go to the library." Hermione was smiling, "but we can't go just yet, we still don't have much to go on. I mean we know size and color, but there must be something here to tell us what it…. Oh!" Hermione exclaimed when she looked closer at the lip of the box. "There's something written here, look!"

Ron leaned in, and read, "A expertiss, of moss… intuse ess obscurim quad ultimate lex luthor?"

Hermione sighed, "Honestly Ronald, you can't pronounce latin? It says 'A expertus of mos. Intus est obscurum quod ultimate lux lucis.'" She pondered it for a moment, and then continued. "I'm awful with conjugation, really just dreadful, but I think it loosely translates to A test of will… within is darkness and ultimate light?" Ron and Harry just looked on silently, knowing she wasn't waiting for their response. Finally, Harry broke the silence, "So… what does that tell us exactly?"

"Not much unfortunately," sighed Hermione. "I mean we can go to the library and look, but we can't very well just march up to Madam Pince and ask her if she knows any books about a box with this engraving. I'd bet you a galleon McGonagall would be on us in an instant! Not to mention the Ministry guy Ron heard her talking to."

"Well least we can do is try." Hermione gave Ron a curious look, wondering why he was so ready to hit the books, but then it all started to make sense when he continued, "Hermione, Harry, think you could head there now and I could just meet up with you later? I have some er- things I need to do."

Harry and Hermione sighed, but chuckled. "Yea Ron, see you later. You owe us." Harry tried to sound stern but couldn't when he was talking to his best friend.

"Hey, I did all the work in the beginning didn't I? If it wasn't for me we wouldn't even know the box existed!"

"Ron… We still don't know what this box is, and I don't think we would be any worse off if we had never found it in the first place… It's not like we're getting anything out of this." Hermione was dangerously close to her lecture tone, and Ron turned to jog off, but Harry called after him.

"Besides, I'm not sure seeing them out the window on the way to have some private Ron time in the bathroom counts as doing work." He laughed, Hermione gave him a wondering look, and Ron turned red but didn't turn around. Soon he was around the corner and headed down the stairs for the Great Hall.

**A/N: This is your reminder! Send me a Critique!**


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